JEDDAH: Maximilian Guenther secured victory in the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix, overtaking Nissan’s Oliver Rowland at the last corner to claim his first win for DS Penske in round three of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Guenther, who started from pole position for the first time since Jakarta 2023, initially led the race but lost places as drivers navigated Formula E’s debut Pit Boost mandatory pit stops.
Rowland, Taylor Barnard, and Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries capitalized on early energy deployment, while Guenther took a more measured approach, conserving power for a late-race push.
That patience paid off. Setting the fastest lap on lap 27, the German driver fought back to second place before launching a dramatic last-lap charge. With a slight energy advantage, he seized his moment on the final chicane, making a decisive move to snatch victory from Rowland just before the chequered flag.
Guenther said: “This means everything to me. It’s the first win with my new team, DS Penske. It was a lot of hard work, a big race but an amazing outcome for us. We lost quite a few places around the pit stop window, but we just stayed calm and did our race. I didn’t expect to come back all the way.
“I thought a podium would have been good, but to do it in the end and to win it is an extra special feeling. I didn’t want to leave it until the last corner but there was no other option — Oli was doing a mega job today, a great race. I believed until the end.”
The victory marked Guenther’s first win since Tokyo last season and broke a 17-race streak in which the pole sitter had failed to convert the start into a victory.
Rowland, despite his disappointment, moved to the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings with 43 points, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa. Porsche lead the Teams’ Championship by a slim three-point margin over DS Penske, while Nissan top the Manufacturers’ table.
Rowland said: “We had a plan before the race and we executed it pretty well. I’m a little bit disappointed because when I had such a gap, if I’d under-consumed a bit I’d have had enough energy to defend from Max. He caught me napping a little bit and I couldn’t do much in the last corner. Nevertheless, we scored some great points and on to tomorrow.”
NEOM McLaren’s Barnard completed the podium, celebrating a strong third-place finish after starting from P4.
He said: “Starting from P4, a podium was always my hope, but you never know how the race is going to play out. It was the first Pit Boost race as well, so to know that we’ve done the procedure that well as a team, I couldn’t be happier to be P3.”
With round four set to take place in Jeddah on Saturday, the championship battle remains fiercely competitive as the season continues to deliver thrills.
